> I think if you want to go in that direction, you should refactor saying > something like "* is the shorthand for all the user-defined columns (see > system columns)". What do you think?
Thanks for the suggestion. Changing the existing sentence is cleaner than adding a new one. The attached v3 changes the first sentence of that paragraph on the SELECT reference page to say that * is a shorthand for all the columns of the selected rows, not including system columns, with a link to the System Columns section. I used "not including system columns" instead of "user-defined columns", since the docs don't use that term for this. I also dropped the example to keep the change small. The docs build cleanly with make check and make html. Thanks & Regards On Tue, Nov 3, 2026 at 9:06 AM Matemática A3K <[email protected]> wrote: > > I think if you want to go in that direction, you should refactor saying > something like "* is the shorthand for all the user-defined columns (see > system columns)". What do you think? > > On Mon, Nov 2, 2026 at 4:55 AM Arvind Kandpal <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> Hi Peter, >> >> Following up on the v2 patch I sent to the list on Oct 28, based on your >> suggestion to update the SELECT reference page instead of section 4.1.4. I'm >> attaching it again here for convenience. >> >> When you have time, could you take a look and let me know if it looks good >> or needs any changes? >> >> Thanks and Regards, >> >> On Wed, Oct 28, 2026 at 3:43 PM Arvind Kandpal <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> >>> Subject: Re: 4.1.4. Special Characters >>> >>> On 28.10.26 Peter Eisentraut wrote: >>> > I think the section that you are patching is more for roughly mentioning >>> > all the possible uses of various characters, but it's not the >>> > authoritative source for what all those characters mean in detail in >>> > those contexts. Otherwise, this could get out of hand. I would have >>> > expected to find that for this particular case on the SELECT reference >>> > page, but it's not mentioned there either. Maybe that page should be >>> > updated? >>> >>> Thanks for the review. That makes sense. >>> >>> The attached v2 drops the change to section 4.1.4 and instead adds a >>> sentence to the SELECT List section of the SELECT reference page. It >>> says that neither * nor table_name.* includes system columns, which >>> must be listed by name, and links to the System Columns section. >>> >>> The docs build cleanly with make check and make html. >>> >>> Thanks and Regards, >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Oct 28, 2026 at 3:32 PM Peter Eisentraut <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> > >>> > On 28.10.26 09:15, Arvind Kandpal wrote: >>> > > The attached patch adds a sentence to the asterisk item in section >>> > > 4.1.4, saying that system columns are not included in * and must be >>> > > selected by name, with the suggested example and a link to the System >>> > > Columns section. >>> > > >>> > > I built the docs locally (make check and make html) and the new text >>> > > and link render fine. >>> > >>> > I think the section that you are patching is more for roughly mentioning >>> > all the possible uses of various characters, but it's not the >>> > authoritative source for what all those characters mean in detail in >>> > those contexts. Otherwise, this could get out of hand. I would have >>> > expected to find that for this particular case on the SELECT reference >>> > page, but it's not mentioned there either. Maybe that page should be >>> > updated? >>> > >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Arvind Kandpal >>> Junior Software Engineer >>> (+91) 9650266413 www.ksolves.com >>> >>> Years of >>> listing on >> >> >> >> -- >> Arvind Kandpal >> Junior Software Engineer >> (+91) 9650266413 www.ksolves.com >> >> Years of >> listing on >> >> -- Arvind Kandpal Junior Software Engineer (+91) 9650266413 www.ksolves.com Years of listing on
From e3838bb8a10f45ba7ff12af495317620d2a555ae Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Arvind Kandpal <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2026 11:19:42 +0530 Subject: [PATCH v3] doc: Mention that * does not include system columns In the SELECT reference page, say in the description of * in the output list that it does not include system columns, and link to the System Columns section. Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/178782026936.2606573.10270614257871556...@wrigleys.postgresql.org --- doc/src/sgml/ref/select.sgml | 3 ++- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/select.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/select.sgml index 18392f7caec..9f3580ce49c 100644 --- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/select.sgml +++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/select.sgml @@ -1153,7 +1153,8 @@ EXCLUDE NO OTHERS <para> Instead of an expression, <literal>*</literal> can be written in the output list as a shorthand for all the columns of the selected - rows. Also, you can write <literal><replaceable + rows, not including system columns (see <xref + linkend="ddl-system-columns"/>). Also, you can write <literal><replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable>.*</literal> as a shorthand for the columns coming from just that table. In these cases it is not possible to specify new names with <literal>AS</literal>; -- 2.43.0
